NEW YORK (AP) -- New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has ordered New York City's transit service to suspend bus, subway, and commuter rail service in advance of the massive storm expected to hit the eastern third of the United States.

Cuomo says the system will be suspended starting at 7 p.m. Sunday.

The city's mass transit system is the nation's largest. The subway alone has a daily ridership of more than 5 million.

Rainfall is expected to start late Sunday or early Monday in New York. Hurricane Sandy is headed north from the Caribbean to meet a winter storm and a cold front. Experts say the rare hybrid storm that results will cause havoc over 800 miles from the East Coast to the Great Lakes.